Former Manchester United winger Andrei Kanchelskis committed a significant blunder in front of a group of Irish fans. The 54-year-old, who holds the position of General Director at Kazakhstan's Tobol Kostanay, faced off against Derry City in a Europa Conference League qualifier on Thursday.
The former Rangers, Everton, and United midfielder was interviewed during halftime by RTE and referred to the crowd in Tallaght as 'British':
“I’m very happy to come back to Great Britain," he told the state broadcaster. "This is a great atmosphere with fantastic fans. Thank you very much. In the first half, we played a little bit cautiously. I hope we improve our ballplay in the second half. This is football, and I'm very pleased for the British people. They are very friendly, and I extend my gratitude to the fans who came to Dublin from the City. It's a nice stadium and a good ground.”
Shortly after, RTE's presenter Darragh Maloney described the interview as 'TV gold'.
Tobol sporting director Andrei Kanchelskis tells @damien_omeara his side have received a warm welcome in Dublin but he's hoping for a better performance from them in the second half
📱 Updates: https://t.co/oTZcPZ2kTY
📺 Live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer https://t.co/2W5kFtUgZE#UECL pic.twitter.com/NrDKpTe2C8— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) August 17, 2023
This is not the first time that Ireland has been referred to as another geographical location like England. Many people on social media found humor in the mistake, but some did not.
One person said, "I forgive him; he was a brilliant player for United in the early and mid-'90s, loved watching him score those goals and defend brilliantly." Another commented, "RTE, this is disgraceful. It's bad enough Kanchelskis thought he was in Britain, but the RTE interviewer didn't correct it."
Last week, Derry made the journey to Kazakhstan. Despite an early advantage gained from a Will Patching penalty in the second leg of their Europa Conference League qualifier, they ended up losing 1-0.
Derry was unable to overcome their European foes, and unfortunately, Tobol secured their advancement through a penalty shootout.
